Aortic Aneurysm – when do I make an appointment?

Hi @anniejam you bring up an interesting question.

I wanted to tag, @hopeful33250, @crhp194 who was a Mayo patient, as well as fellow Connect members @morninglory @thegoodwife @thankful @degarden_girl and @ch246cf10 as they may have opinions worth sharing on this topic.

@anniejam, how are you feeling? Where you referred to Mayo? What has your doctor said about timing of appointments?

Please make an appointment now but not to worry. Your aneurysm is likely not large enough for surgery. Mayo will follow you and make recommendations for your situation. Your aneurysm may never get larger but it needs to be watched and there is no better place than Mayo to do that watching. Best of luck to you now and in the future. Mayo is a kind, caring medical clinic.

The continued tests will determine at what rate it is increasing(If it is). Maybe you will be lucky and it is static and not increasing. My aneurysm had formed a seperate bladder by stretching the artery wall and had essentially a chamber full or blood with a very thin wall. It had to be operated on very soon after being discovered. Your situation appears to be different. You probably want to get a second opinion with this "Thing" in your chest. Mayo would be a good place if you are close to one of their locations.

All the best to you.

Bruce
Texas

i am feeling normal for me. noone referred me. i just had an echo done in nov. paid for by medicare so if i went to mayo during summer medicare might no pay far another one until nov. That is a concern. i would go to rochester. dr. said nothing about timing of appts.

@anniejam I think Medicare will pay for another echo if the MD deems it necessary to document whether the aneurysm is growing. I was having them every 6 months until it became apparent that the rate of growth was minimal. Medicare paid. I am now getting them once a year. I am sure if it starts to grow larger, I will be returned to a 6 month schedule.

I think you will feel better if you have a consultation with the MD's at Mayo. Unless your aneurysm is significantly different from mine, it will be years before it reaches 5 cm if you are following your MD's recommendations about diet, exercise, lifting and not smoking. Right now, your cardio should have scheduled a second echo probably in 6 months to monitor the rate of growth, if it is growing at all. Mine has grown less than 0.1 cm in 10 years.

thankyou!

should my diet be plant based mainly?

@anniejam As far as I know, aneurysms aren't caused by or exacerbated by animal proteins. I try to stay with a mostly plant based diet but that is because of cholesterol issues. I needed to lose weight and the mostly plant based, low fat diet helped me accomplish that.

When I suggested in an earlier post that it is important to follow your MD's recommendations regarding diet, I meant be careful with alcohol intake, lose weight if your MD recommends you do so, don't smoke even occasionally and don't lift more than 25 lbs. Talk to your MD about aerobic exercise such as walking to keep your heart strong.

As much as the diagnosis of aneurysm is horrifying, it is not the end of the world. If we have one, it is better that we know we have it and can assure the MD's are following it and we are doing what we can to assure we aren't doing anything to increase the risk of it growing.

But do make that appointment with Mayo. I think you will feel much more at ease once you have a second opinion.

Amen on the Alcohol thing. A glass of wine every now an then, that's it. Dropping alcohol for me was a big boost in maintaining weight which helps with my meds staying effective. I've never smoked which is good. As heart patients(All of us here), laying off alcohol and smoking is really beneficial. Takes time to change your lifestyle, but do it.

All the best.

Bruce
Texas

Thanks! I do healthy things already so it is hard to quit things that i have never started. My problem could be a connective tissue one, I do appreciate all of your responses!